Abdul Hakim ibn Jaffar

Abdul Hakim ibn Jaffar (769-854) was an Arab philosopher, merchant, and civil servant who is known for writing Verses in 802.

Biography
Born in Hail (present-day Saudi Arabia) to a family of Sunni Muslim Arabs, Abdul Hakim ibn Jaffar studied Islam after being a trader. From 790 to 802 he travelled from Pakistan in the east to Spain in the west, writing about the differences in Islam between the countries. He wrote in the beginning of his magnum opus, Verses: "It is the duty of us Muslims to spread the word of (Muhammad) across the world, creating an ummah from the end of the world to the other end". He went on to write, "the religion of Islam is superior to that of Christianity and Judaism because its followers are active in preaching Allah's message, and we will not stop until all of the world knows the messages that the prophet has communicated". Abdul Hakim's writings are certainly biased in favor of Islam against the "infidel" religions, but he was considered to be a great Quranic scholar due to his memorization of much of the text and his skills in deciphering their meanings. He was later made Court Poet of Basra, and he died at the old age of 85 in 854.